spam is overwhelming
jlhjlh1
Enthusiast - Level 1

Isn't there anything Verizon can do to stop the spam that is growing by leaps and bounds.   Despite marking message after message as spam they keep coming--15-30 a day.   I don't see any setting I can make to filter them out.  Any suggestions?

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Re: spam is overwhelming
jonjones1
Legend

@jlhjlh wrote:

Isn't there anything Verizon can do to stop the spam that is growing by leaps and bounds.   Despite marking message after message as spam they keep coming--15-30 a day.   I don't see any setting I can make to filter them out.  Any suggestions?


This might be a solution if you want to avail yourself of it.

simply get a GMail or Yahoo or even an AOL email account and of course Outlook email which have spam blockers that work very well.

in the old days when I was a member of SpamL we used script to single out what known spammers used. We then filtered on the MTA to not have it appear in our inboxes. Today ISP's use the same methods but in a much advanced mode.

the https://www.spamhaus.org has tools for reporting isp's that allow the continued sending of spam over that internet service providers network. 

Never reply to a spam email or UCE (unsolicited commercial email) it verifys your email address and is sold to other spammers. 

And never just delete them but make sure your isp knows of the full headers and fake domains the spammers use. This helps the provider to place blocks on their MTA to help rid spammers from getting through.

however I would just switch to a free email provider that has a proven track record of stopping most of the spam from getting through. http://www.outlook.com or http://mail.yahoo.com are two of the best. Another would be http://GMail.com 

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Re: spam is overwhelming
jlhjlh1
Enthusiast - Level 1

Thx for the helpful response.  I have other email accounts that are successful in spam filtering.   I can not understand why Verizon fails so miserably on this front .  I have been reluctant to phase out use of the  Verizon email account but they have left me little recourse.

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Re: spam is overwhelming
jonjones1
Legend

@jlhjlh wrote:

Thx for the helpful response.  I have other email accounts that are successful in spam filtering.   I can not understand why Verizon fails so miserably on this front .  I have been reluctant to phase out use of the  Verizon email account but they have left me little recourse.


The crazy part is Verizon owns AOL mail, and Yahoo shortly. And they have great spam filtering. You really don't need Verizon's email.

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Re: spam is overwhelming
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

@jonjones wrote:

@jlhjlh wrote:

Thx for the helpful response.  I have other email accounts that are successful in spam filtering.   I can not understand why Verizon fails so miserably on this front .  I have been reluctant to phase out use of the  Verizon email account but they have left me little recourse.


The crazy part is Verizon owns AOL mail, and Yahoo shortly. And they have great spam filtering. You really don't need Verizon's email.


Not crazy.  They is part of the problem.  The old Verizon spam filter is supported by a third party and once worked well, but is showing its age  Verizon has already announced its intention to switch their email over to the AOL interface.  In fact the servers now actually have aol names, and those people who were in CA, FL and TX were moved to AOL prior to being sold to Frontier.

Because the writing is on the wall for the old Verizon email service, it wouldn't surprise me that the third party is not making a big effort to improve their spam filter.

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Re: spam is overwhelming
james_marshall
Contributor - Level 1

If you are stuck with Verizon and can't switch, here is a workaround I have used to combat spam with some success. It's only a workaround, not a real solution. One of the forum moderators suggested the core part of it, then I tweaked it a little. It works on the principle that most spam is sent as a BCC, and is not addressed TO the sender.

Log into webmail and go to Settings>Email settings>filters>add new filters. Set up a new rule that says "IF To: or CC:" does not contain <your email address>, then move messages to trash. I created a folder that I called "filtered spam" and have the messages moved there instead of trash so I can go back in and make sure the filters aren't catching anything I really want.

Because I use the "Always BCC myself" feature on my iPhone and iPad, I then added a second filter that says, "If From Contains <your email address>, then move messages to folder Inbox." This allows the BCC's to myself to be delivered.

The glitch is if someone legitimately sends a BCC, I don't get it. I have added several additional filters to allow some low tech newsletters that I get to be delivered. Those rules read, "If From Contains <e-mail address of the sender> Then Move messages to Inbox." It is also possible to put a domain name in the filter in lieu of an e-mail address, if you want to be certain that all BCC's from that organization come through.

This solution isn't perfect - some spam still gets through. But, over the past week, it has filtered out 450 spam e-mails and only allowed 7 spam e-mails through. Over this same period the filters caught 2 valid e-mails.

So, it's not perfect, but I find that it is still a lot better. I hope this helps.

In the meantime, let's all keep lobbying VZN for a decent spam filter.

j_m

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